Brady admits insensitive’ remark, wants people motivated to return to work

Wednesday

Feb 5, 2014 at 11:15 PMFeb 5, 2014 at 11:24 PM

By Bernard SchoenburgPolitical Writer

State Sen. Bill Brady, a Republican candidate for governor, said Wednesday his comments about some people not wanting to return to manufacturing jobs because they were enjoying their unemployment insurance were insensitive.

“I think it was insensitive that I didn’t take into consideration there are a number of people out there looking for jobs who don’t want to be on unemployment,” Brady, of Bloomington, told the editorial board of The State Journal-Register.

Meanwhile, Brady also said he would consider having the state sell the James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago, with the state then renting only the space it needs in the office building.

At a forum Tuesday in Naperville, Brady said that the “No. 1 issue I run into when I travel around to manufacturing plants particularly” is that employers say, “‘I can’t hire my people back.’ They say, ‘They’re enjoying … their unemployment insurance,’” Chicago-based public radio station WBEZ-FM reported. “So we’ve got to motivate people to get back into the workforce.”

Brady said Wednesday that he was “talking to a group of manufacturers, some of which in the group had said this to me along different travels in the state.”

“We need to take care of people who are dealing with the difficulty of job displacement and help them get onto a path, but we have to make sure they continue to be motivated to find gainful employment,” he said.

Brady said Illinois ranks near the top among states in length and size of unemployment benefits.

Greg Rivara, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Employment Security, said later that the average weekly unemployment insurance benefit paid in Illinois is about $300, which is less than one-third of the average weekly wage earned by people working in the state. He said 35 other states have a higher ratio of benefits to wages.

“We have a very skilled workforce that demands higher wages than other states,” Rivara said.

State benefits now last 26 weeks, he said, and are paid by a fund fed by employer taxes. A program using federal funds that added 47 additional weeks recently ended, he said.

Rivara said people receiving unemployment benefits have to be actively seeking work, and they jeopardize their benefits if they refuse a job.

“Additionally, because businesses pay taxes that make up unemployment insurance benefits, they have an incentive to report someone who refuses to come back to work,” Rivara added.

Brady said, in addition to the governor living at the Executive Mansion, “We need to look at locating state employees in the state capital.”

“Do we need a Thompson Center?” he asked of the Chicago office building. “No.”

Asked if that meant he would seek to sell the building, Brady said, “We need to always evaluate all of our real estate holdings. … If the state of Illinois could meet its real estate needs in Chicago more efficiently by leasing space in the Thompson Center … I think we’d look at that.”

Brady, whose Senate district includes part of Springfield and who was the 2010 GOP nominee for governor, said he thinks he’s the best candidate to take on Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn again.

“I’d say this if he were sitting here,” Brady said. “He’s a populist demagogue who ran in a 40 percent Democrat state” that is also “30 percent Republican.” He said the “honeymoon” that allowed Quinn to win in 2010 is over.

But Brady thinks that he could garner support Quinn got last time — including union support — because of “a whole host of reasons,” including Quinn getting through a tax increase larger than he campaigned for, his closing of state facilities, pension changes, and other conflicts over contracts.

Brady, who is seeking the GOP nomination in a race with state Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale, state Treasurer Dan Rutherford of Chenoa, and businessman Bruce Rauner of Winnetka, said he thinks his own legislative and business experience, combined with his knowledge of the state, makes him the best candidate.

Brady voted for the pension reform plan that was recently passed by the General Assembly and is being challenged in court. Brady — the only of the four GOP candidates for governor to support that plan — called it “the toughest vote we’ve ever taken.”

“I’m proud of my leadership in that initiative,” said Brady, who said he worked on the issue for the past couple years and was on the committee that helped negotiate the final package. “We really think we’ve put our state on the path of the right direction.”

Despite the court challenge to that pension package, Brady said he is counting on expected savings as part of his economic plan, which also includes letting a rollback of the temporary income tax increase occur in 2015 as planned.